Many voters in New Hampshire are politically independent, like Bernie Sanders — and they like him a lot.

That's according to a new poll by the radio station WBUR in Boston, which found that Sanders has the highest favorability rating of any presidential candidate among independent New Hampshire voters.

However, about a third of those voters have yet to decide whether they'll take a Democratic or Republican ballot on Feb. 9 for the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

Independent voters make up more than 44 percent of the New Hampshire electorate and play a large role in the primary, according to WBUR. The poll shows more than twice as much support for Sanders in this group (27 percent net favorable) than for his rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (27 percent net unfavorable).

The unaffiliated residents may see a kindred spirit in Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who resisted joining the Democratic Party until he launched his presidential bid last May.

Sanders leads most recent polls of likely Democratic voters in New Hampshire. Now the question is whether Sanders can attract independent voters to join the Democratic primary on his behalf.

On the Republican side, independents favor Ohio Gov. John Kasich, according to the poll.

The WBUR poll of 436 unaffiliated New Hampshire voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

This article was first published online Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank